


Movie Night

by bluestrawberryiii



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Gen, M/M, cars2mademegay!verse-compliant probably, morgana is mentioned but he is not here because that is more pain than i am willing to write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-07 08:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11055297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluestrawberryiii/pseuds/bluestrawberryiii
Summary: The kids watch a movie and it's Bad.





	Movie Night

**Author's Note:**

> just a lil note that this definitely takes place in a parallel universe to "transformative works" because i cannot imagine akira would make such a painful mistake twice in the same timeline

Normally, Akira didn't feel this cramped when he invited his friends over for movies. Sure, it was a small room, and his tiny TV had sort of shitty sound quality so that everyone had to lean in and shut up during the quiet bits. But they were all friends, and that had made the close quarters bearable. Plus, it made it easier to steal Ryuji’s snacks if they were all closer together.

But this time, the three of them sat straight up in their chairs, staring intently towards the screen. It felt like there were invisible bubbles around them, stretching to their limits and pushing uncomfortably up against each other. Even Ann, who had helped him organize this, looked hopelessly regretful.

He couldn't blame her.

On screen, the buck-toothed tow truck introduced himself. “My name’s Mater. Like tuh-mater, but without the ‘tuh.’”

God, it had been years since he'd watched this movie. He'd loved it back when he was a kid, but this was not the context he wanted to revisit his childhood memories. He glanced over to Ryuji, sat between them like he was being chaperoned. How in hell was this the movie that had made Ryuji realize he was into cars?

* * *

The finale had come. Lightning McQueen’s old pit crew had been replaced by his new friends from Radiator Springs. As he sped around the race track with renewed hope, Ann slid her gaze towards Ryuji. She didn't know what she expected to find. Tears, maybe? Akira looked closer to that than Ryuji; his grip on the bottom of his chair had turned his knuckles slightly white, and there was a look of barely concealed pain on his face.

Ryuji, however, showed nothing. Even as McQueen pushed the King over the finish line, Ryuji’s face was as impassive as ever.

In a way, she was grateful. Whatever she had thought she might find, it was a relief not to see it. On the other hand, a pit of dread was sinking in her chest. It wasn't actually the first one that had made Ryuji realize he was… _interested_ in vehicles. Morgana, specifically.

As Akira got up to change out the movies, Ann gave herself a good full minute to feel sorry for herself. As much as she wanted to support her friend (and okay, maybe she was a little bit curious what was so special about _Cars 2_ ), she couldn't help thinking that making this into a two-movie marathon had been a grave mistake. At least Morgana wasn't here.

* * *

At least Morgana had wandered off for the night. It was bad enough going through this with his friends without his crush being present as well. Ryuji stared ahead at the screen. The Pope had finally appeared, and he couldn't wait for Mater to defuse the bomb so they could just end this friendship exercise and go home.

He appreciated the sentiment, of course. Ann and Akira were taking his crush on Morgana with a lot more grace than he’d ever hoped for - especially since neither of them were ever really meant to know. But sometimes he wished they would stop trying so hard. Their first reactions had been understandably shocked. Now it felt like they were over-correcting out of guilt and, in a way, that felt worse.

Plus, there was no way he could enjoy the movie in this atmosphere.

They'd passed all his favorite scenes, and he'd been much too uncomfortable to laugh or react in any way. He could catch Ann shooting him glances every time something vaguely touching happened, and Akira was looking over every two or three minutes. They were both trying so hard to be subtle about it, but Ryuji was feeling high strung and exposed and he saw every glance. When the movie finally ended, he practically flew from his seat. “Good night, guys!” he said, pounding down the stairs with all the speed of a gazelle and none of the grace. He just wanted to be out. “See ya tomorrow. Bye!”

As soon as he was downstairs, he was out the door and in the cobblestone alleyway. Lonely night air never smelled so sweet.

* * *

It was a minute after Ryuji ran out before Ann spoke.

“This was a mistake, right?”

Akira nodded. “Definitely.”

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact i didn't need to look up like anything for this because i have a little brother and ive basically got the first cars movie memorized
> 
> (thanks to wolfwinds123 for encouraging this monstrosity and fledermauss for having actually played the game. also unluckycharm just cuz i love u)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Communal](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13037766) by [unluckyCharm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/unluckyCharm/pseuds/unluckyCharm)




End file.
